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From: Nora O'Connor
Date: 10/22/02
Time: 1:06:28 PM
Remote Name: 208.32.238.2
Barry, Thank you for your insightful comments about women and the self-help movement. I do agree that woman have much to teach men ... and vice versa.
I attended my first NSA conference in 1995 and have been a member for much longer, and although I agree with you that women who stutter are often more well represented at this annual conference compared to their respresentation in society at large and that there are some major female leaders in the self help movement ... Mary Wood, Annie Bradberry, Elizabeth Kapstein, Bonnie Weiss, Vicki Schutter to name a few as well as female non-stutterers Lee Caggiano, Nina Riordan, Vivian Sheehan, Judy Kuster and Heather Grossman.
But, when you look at the Board of the NSA there is only one female (who does not stutter) and the rest our male. (Let it be noted that Annie Bradberry is the Executive Director of the NSA.) And when you look at who are the keynote speakers every year at NSA conferences, it's very clear that woman who stutter need to search hard to find their role models and female support network.
John Alhbach and Michael Sugarman founded the National Stuttering Project in the late 1970's.
I know I'm only speaking of the NSA, there are many other self help organiztions across the world and I know I have left out a number of other key female players in the NSA, but it's very evident to me that the leadership in the NSA self help movement is very male dominated.
It also must be noted again that women constantly deal with what the "perfect woman" is in our society. Stuttering doesn't go along with that image ... stuttering can be seen as ugly and definitely not perfect. Woman can keep our mouth shut and reach some level of acceptance of how we should look by societial norms, but that's not dealing with being a person who stutters. I understand that woman are often more prone to reaching out and getting help, but it seems the leaders still remain more male dominated.
Oh, and one last comment and actually the most important comment. Thank you Barry for being so influential in my development as a lesbian who stutters. You have been a major reason why I have such a healthy self image and that I have become a leader in the stuttering self help movement. If it were not for the existence of the stuttering self help organization Passing Twice: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgenders who Stutter I definitely would not be the strong, motivated, passionate, vibrant and alive woman that I am today. Thank you for your committment to Passing Twice.
Peace.